Encinitas Beach Goes to Dogs, With City’s Help

The Encinitas City Council voted Wednesday night to allow dogs to run unleashed along Beacon’s Beach for a six-month trial period but limited the hours during the summer.

In a unanimous vote, the five-member council decided that dogs would have their day during the fall and winter months but that between Memorial Day and Labor Day they would be restricted to morning and evening hours. Dogs can run unleashed from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., giving working owners of dogs ample time to exercise their pets.

The council, with about 100 people in attendance, also decided to change the location of the dog beach, deciding to map a three-quarter-mile area from Beacon’s Beach north to Grandview Beach, an area the council said was less-populated by non-dog owners. The city’s Parks and Recreation Commission had recommended that the dog beach stretch from Beacon’s Beach south to the Stone Steps access.

The decision becomes effective in March.

City officials had expected the strong turnout for the meeting after proponents on both sides of the issue began making phone calls and circulating flyers to stir up support for the issue in recent days.

On Wednesday night, more than 30 residents spoke out on the issue including animal advocates, surfers, grade schoolers, construction workers, lifeguards, a lawyer and a doctor.

Two-thirds of the speakers were in favor of the dog beach and denied claims that the dogs andtheir owners would cause either health hazards or traffic tie-ups in the North County city.

Dr. Brad Schwartz told the council that, in his years as a practicing physician, he had never seen a disease transmitted from a animal to a person through dog droppings. He also said he had never seen a case of dog bite from any North County beach. Running dogs there reduces their stress. he said.

“By allowing dogs on the beach, you may even reduce the number of dog bites in the city.” Cita Walsh told the council that dogs on a beach are part of the American way.

“I’ve never seen poop go unscooped, and never seen a person who hadn’t stopped to pet my collie and smile,” said the La Costa resident, adding that she and her pet are regular Beacon’s Beach users. “The issue of dogs at Beacon’s Beach is what’s America is all about. I’d be surprised if you didn’t see McDonald’s and Pepsi begin shooting commercials there.”

Dog owners said the beach provides the perfect area for people to exercise their pets in an area not threatened by automobile traffic. About a dozen dog owners cleaned up the beach in weeks before the meeting and fashioned plastic pooper-scoopers to be left at the beach for public use.

Other residents, however, claim the animals not only cause a nuisance with their constant barking and excrement but are threatening the ecologically sensitive bluffs with their constant running.

The controversy began last summer before the county turned over to Encinitas operation of several miles of coastal beaches including Beacon’s. In June, the City Council asked the Parks and Recreation Commission to review the issue and make a recommendation.

The county had allowed leashed dogs on the beach and even looked the other way when the animals roamed freely, dog owners said.

The parks and recreation board formed an ad hoc committee of proponents of both sides of the issue and met for a public hearing in October. In the meantime, dogs were allowed unleashed on Beacon’s Beach.

At that meeting, the Parks and Recreation Commission, by a 5-2 vote, recommended that unleashed dogs be allowed to run on the three-quarter-mile stretch of beach between Beacon’s Beach and the Stone Steps access.

The group also recommended that owners be required to stay with their pets and clean up any excrement.

Detractors of the measure warned that the dogs might pose a danger to coastal birds and marine mammals washed ashore, as well as elderly people making the somewhat steep descent from the parking lot of Beacon’s Beach.

But not all council members were buying such dire forecasts.

“It’s all fear, and I’m having a hard time buying all of it,” Councilwoman Marjorie Gaines said of the concerns before Wednesday night’s meeting. “The beach has traditionally been a place where people have a sense of freedom. We’ve got too many regulations already.”

Gaines, who owns four dogs, said she can understand why people might want the animals along for protection. She cited two rapes that occurred on the beach in the last three years, one in broad daylight.